Page 14 of Obsessive Love (The King #1)
Chapter Thirteen
Sophia
W alking down the stairs of my parent's house in a wedding dress with Jess by my side and my parents and Dominic standing at the bottom waiting for me feels surreal and overwhelming. I've only known about this wedding for the past two weeks, and you'd think that would've been enough time for me to wrap my head around it, especially because I know what's expected of women in my position usually, but I still can't seem to believe this is all happening.
My mother stares at me with tears in her eyes and her hands covering her mouth as I continue fighting my way down the stairs, trying my hardest not to trip over the bottom of my dress. My father is smiling tightly as he watches me with guilt-ridden eyes. Dominic is standing beside them glaring at me, likely still angry that Jericho will technically be taking over both families after this wedding.
"Oh, darling, you look absolutely stunning," my mother gushes, pulling me into a hug as I reach the bottom of the stairs. "This dress was the perfect choice!"
"I must agree with your mother, Sophia. You look beautiful," my father adds, pulling me from my mother's embrace and kissing me softly against my temple.
"Thank you. Where's Jaylen?" I ask, glancing around the foyer.
"He's waiting in the car outside. He's going to drive you and your father to the church and Jess and I will be going with Dominic in his car."
I nod at my mother, suddenly feeling even more nervous at the thought of not having Jess by my side for the next part of this ordeal.
Jess and I may always argue and bicker, but she's like a sister to me. We've always been extremely close and we've been there for each other through every stage of our lives. I know she's still going to be at my wedding, but the thought of not having her with me to calm me down on the drive over to the church has me feeling nauseous.
"We best get going. The ceremony should be starting soon and we need to get to the church on time," my father says, herding us all towards the door and out into the driveway.
Jess grabs my hand as we're walking down the front steps and she gives it a squeeze.
"You're going to be okay, Soph. It'll be over in the blink of an eye and then we can get drunk and drown our sorrows after the ceremony." I smile at her and pull her in for a hug, quietly thanking her for giving me a little bit of reassurance.
The sound of a car horn blaring has my eyes shifting over to the car Jaylen's seated in and he rolls down the window, shaking his head.
"Will you two stop gossiping and hurry up? I'm not going to get the blame for turning up late with the bride," he grumbles. I walk over to the car as Jaylen gets out to open the door for me whilst my father locks up the house. As I'm about to slide into the car, Jaylen grabs my wrist, halting me. I turn to face him, our eyes locking and he gives me a sad smile.
"If you wanna ditch the wedding, just let me know and I'll get you out of there," he says.
"Jay, don't be so stupid."
"I'm serious, Soph. I've got a bag for both of us in the car. If you seriously don't want to go through with this, we'll run. Jess has even agreed to create a distraction for us so that we can get a head start."
A smile creeps onto my face, appreciating the fact that they both care about me enough to cause havoc, but I shake my head, pull my wrist out of his grasp, and seat myself in the car.
"I'd love to, but I have to do this. I'm prepared to do this," I tell him sternly.
Standing outside the wedding venue with my father by my side and Jaylen standing behind us directing multiple guards to where they need to be, I can feel sweat seeping out of my pores and the shake in my limbs. The nerves are finally starting to catch up to me and I'm convinced that if I don't start walking and get this over and done within the next few minutes, I'm going to start hyperventilating and take Jaylen up on his offer to ditch the wedding and go on the run for the rest of my life.
My father holds out his arm and I loop mine around his, taking a deep breath to try and steady my chaotic thoughts.
"You ready for this?" he asks, watching me out the corner of his eye as the guards disperse and Jaylen walks ahead of us into the venue. I nod my head and paint a smile on my face, staring ahead at the doors as I hear the music start to play.
"I'm ready," I tell him.
He sighs, staring at me for a beat longer before he hands me my bouquet of flowers and then guides me towards the entrance of the building.
My heart is beating erratically in my chest as we cross the threshold, and I see two men standing in front of large oak doors, hands clasped onto the metal handles in preparation to open them for me to walk down the aisle.
"I can do this," I whisper, taking a few more deep breaths and tightening my hold on my father's arm.
He glances at me, and then at the men waiting for his signal to open the doors. Looking at me once more and seeing the fake smile set into place on my face, he nods his head, signalling for them to open the doors.
As the doors open, everyone who's seated on either side of the aisle begins to stand and turn to face us, watching as we begin to walk down the aisle.
The King's are on one side and the Rossi's are on the other. As I glance around at people whilst I walk past them, I see a ton of miserable faces and only a few that have the slightest hint of joy in their expression.
At least I'm not the only one that's unhappy about this coming together.
I tear my eyes away from the crowd of people and settle my gaze on Jericho as he stands at the end of the aisle next to the priest. I'm not sure why I expected him to be looking at me, considering this wedding isn't real, but I thought for appearance's sake he'd make it seem like he was bothered the slightest bit about this wedding. Instead, he's looking down at his watch and sneaking glances at what I assume is his phone in his suit pocket.
I shake off the pang of hurt I feel and rip my eyes away from him, choosing to now focus on the priest, knowing there's nothing he could do to make me cry before I've even said 'I do' and cemented myself in this marriage.
My father practically tugs me the rest of the way down the aisle, and it's not until we reach the end that Jericho looks up, finally paying attention to me and what's going on around him. He clears his throat and holds out his hand, waiting for my father to pass me over.
I glance between both men as they silently stare at each other. Then, my father presses a kiss on my cheek and nudges my arm forward, urging me to grab Jericho's outstretched hand. I glare at him and then pointedly look down at his hand before stepping up to the altar, disregarding his help and keeping my arms firmly at my sides.
The priest quietly asks us both if we're ready to begin as the volume of the music lowers, and once we both subtly nod heads, he begins his religious spiel. Jericho reaches forward and tugs my hands away from my body, gripping them firmly in his so that we're standing as expected, hand in hand and ready to embark on this journey.
I watch him check his watch a few more times as the priest continues speaking and it becomes harder to keep my smile in place. He's fidgety and distracted, showing no interest at all in the events taking place. I don't dare glance around at everyone watching because I know other people must notice his lack of interest and I don't want them to give me sympathetic looks.
Finally, as the priest says his name and tells him to repeat after him, he engages himself, standing tall and locking eyes with me as he repeats the instructed words and pulls the rings from his pocket, sliding one onto my finger as he talks. I roll my eyes at him, hoping to aggravate him before it's my turn to repeat what the priest tells me to say.
"I, Sophia King, take thee, Jericho Alessandro Rossi, to be my lawful wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part." I take the secondary silver band from Jericho and slide it onto his finger, making sure to push it as far as I can, hoping it bites into his skin.
"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
My eyes go wide and I stare at Jericho in horror. He tugs me towards him and removes one hand from mine, bringing it to my face and tightly grasping my jaw, pulling my face towards his.
He places a chaste kiss against my pursed lips and then immediately steps back. I frown at him as he offers his hand, waiting for me to take it so we can walk back down the aisle and over to the reception hall.
"Come on, wife. Let's get this fiasco over and done with," he mutters, shaking his hand slightly and encouraging me to take it. I place my hand in his and we begin our way down the aisle, smiling at the guests as they unenthusiastically clap and cheer.
Once we're through the oak doors and walking down the hallway to where the reception is being held, Jericho loosens his hold on my hand, and both of our arms drop back down to our sides.
Is our whole marriage going to be this awkward and uncomfortable?
He pulls his phone from his pocket and lifts it to his ear as he checks his watch again. By the time we reach the hall, he's shaking his head and cursing as I hear the tell-tale sign of someone's voicemail.
"Is everything okay?" I ask, walking into the empty reception hall whilst observing his fidgety nature. He looks over at me as if he's shocked that I've asked and then he nods his head, leading me to the head table set up by the large glass windows at the back of the room.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Just trying to get a hold of my brother. He was meant to be here, but I think he's running late," he says, pulling out my chair as guests filter into the room and take their seats as well, gradually filling up the tables surrounding the room.
"Is that something to be worried about?"
"You never know with Kaleb. He's a bit of a loose cannon sometimes, so he could either be in trouble, or he's just rebelling to cause my father some stress. I'm sure he'll show up soon. He knows he has to make an appearance at some—"
His words are cut off by the sound of glass shattering around us, and some of our guests screaming and shouting. I glance around the room, seeing panicked women scramble under tables and dash out of doors as men from both families draw their guns.
"Get down!" Jericho shouts, dragging me down to the floor mere moments before gunshots start ringing out.